Glowplugs 1248cc multijet

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Glowplugs 1248cc multijet

If cold starting is a problem the Germans and possibly Brits put trays of burning fuel under the engines to get them warm/started.

With luck your neighbour is a fireman or better still firewoman :)
In the late '60's, when I was travelling extensively in Europe for business, it was quite usual to see lorries, on very cold mornings, with a tray containing diesel soaked rags, blazing away underneath the chassis. The problem in those days was that the fuel would wax up and refuse to flow through the lines in very cold conditions. It was not unusual to tip a couple of gallons of petrol into the tank when you filled up which helped with this. Later you could buy - and pay extra - for "winter diesel" with anti waxing additive but now, I think, it is automatically incorporated as winter approaches.

Our boss used to make a little extra cash by allowing commercials to park securely in the workshop overnight. Back in those days starting a diesel from cold - especially when the ambient temperature was cold - was invariably accompanied by clouds of partially burnt, evil grey/white, smelly, choking fumes. Just occasionally one of these would refuse to start. Whipping off the air filter and playing the flame from a blow torch over the inlet manifold and then into the intake would almost always ensure a start. Try that now a days and, apart from cooking the sensors which are often found in the manifold, you would probably also melt the plastic inlet manifold itself!

What about ether based starting sprays I hear the shout go up? Just don't go there I would say. For those who are unfamiliar with this family of products, they consist of a spray can of highly volatile fluid (mostly ether I believe) which is sprayed into the engine's air intake whilst it is being cranked. A diesel ignites it's fuel by compressing the air in it's cylinder so much that it gets hotter than the ignition point of the fuel. Then, at just the right moment, it sprays the fuel into the combustion chamber. Although very quick, it does take a finite time for the injection to take place so the fuel does not burn all in one big "bang" but as a controlled burn as the fuel leaves the injector nozzle. (actually there's quite a bit more to it in modern CR engines but I think we'll just stick with the basics). As an engine ages, wear to the piston, piston rings and bore will conspire to gradually and slowly reduce it's ability to effectively compress it's air. This means that pre combustion air temperature will be reduced. Add to this the substantially lower air temperature on a freezing cold winter morning and the thick engine oil giving slower cranking speeds and you end up with an in cylinder (compressed) air temperature which is insufficiently great to ignite the fuel. Playing the blow torch flame into the inlet raised the temperature of the air being drawn in and so, unless really "knackered" the engine would start.

Spraying a highly volatile fuel into the inlet means that a much lower in cylinder temperature is needed to fire this fuel so, again unless "knackered", the engine will probably start. There is a big problem with this though. Under normal operation the piston compresses and heats the air, then at around TDC (the top of the piston's stroke) the injector starts to spray and a controlled, progressive burn takes place. When starting with one of these ether sprays the fuel (ether or whatever) is sprayed into the inlet and is drawn into the cylinder with the air on the downward stroke of the piston. Then both air and fuel are compressed together as the piston rises. This charge is being compressed as a whole so when, at some point on the compression stroke, the air temperature gets hot enough to ignite this fuel (often a long way before TDC) the whole lot goes off in one go. This is called an explosion! It is a very violent event, nothing like the controlled burn achieved at exactly the right point of crankshaft rotation as happens during a normal injection event. If you've ever heard a diesel being started in this way you will have heard how noisy it is. It is said that, often, a diesel started like this becomes "addicted" and eventually can only be started with the use of the product. This is because usually the engines which are having starting problems like this are old and worn. Often such engines will have a heavy build up of carbon deposits in the combustion chambers and especially around the edges of the piston and around the top piston rings. This helps the piston seal in the cylinder. The "explosion" caused by starting the engine on ether, as described above, is such a violent event it will shake this carbon loose. Then the sealing effect is lost. The ability of the piston to compress the air satisfactorily is reduced as the carbon is shaken loose and, over the course of a number of starts, the engine looses sufficient compression to start on cold days - and eventually, to start at all. Hence People talking about engines getting "addicted" to these products.

Modern diesels have glow plugs which help by "glowing" red hot in the combustion chamber when the engine is being started so helping the fuel to ignite as the injector sprays it. Hence why If your glow plugs fail the engine becomes very difficult to start in cold weather. The glow plugs also play an important roll in reducing emissions during warm up.
 
If cold starting is a problem the Germans and possibly Brits put trays of burning fuel under the engines to get them warm/started.

With luck your neighbour is a fireman or better still firewoman :)

As seen in
'Operation Stack' :)

And no Jock. That didnt have any great hollyood stars in it..

Apart from Vinny Jones.. maybe ;)
 
. Hence People talking about engines getting "addicted" to these products.

Knackered old building site dumpers (the old ones with a crank handle to start) often used to be addicted to ether.
Kept them going way past their realistic lifespan if used sparingly.
But... give a can to an over-enthusiastic eejit and the result was sometimes "err... the dumper's not starting" followed by amazement at the sight of a con-rod poking through the crankcase.
(On some dumpers you could make them run backwards with a squirt of EasyStart. Those were simpler days!)

The original Kia Sedona had a simple hot wire heater instead of glow plugs, and this concept seemed to be beyond many mechanics, who advised owners to use EasyStart in winter, rather than investigating properly, (and then just fixing the connector wire which used to break off, which was the normal problem).
Trouble was, eventually they needed EasyStart all year round, even if the heater got fixed.

A very small squirt as a last resort may be OK, but regular use could be the cosmos suggesting a proper investigation into the cause is required (or a better mechanic)

And heavy-handed use is asking for trouble.

Glow plugs are cheap.
 
As seen in
'Operation Stack' :)

And no Jock. That didnt have any great hollyood stars in it..

Apart from Vinny Jones.. maybe ;)
Pity, I wanted, desperately, to be Steve McQueen back in those days. Sad I know but I have a picture of him in my workshop sitting on "The Great Escape" motorcycle!
 
Im going to mention glow plugs..

On a FIAT..

OK. got warm.. coaxed the mj into life.. drove for 40 mins.. uphill..

Stopped.. covers off.. wound out 2 plugs..BERU.. replaced with Bosch.

The stuck lead played hard to get.. then came away.. leaving the connector rusted onto the plug :(

Next plug..only moved 1/8 turn.. so left it.. :(

Car starts as badly as ever.. so was probably relying on the lead I snapped :(

Looks like some mew wiring is required.. :)
couldnt find mew connectors for sensible money .. so will try bullet females

At least they are 10p.. not £10 each.. :)
 
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Im going to mention glow plugs..

On a FIAT..

OK. got warm.. coaxed the mj into life.. drove for 40 mins.. uphill..

Stopped.. covers off.. wound out 2 plugs..BERU.. replaced with Bosch.

The stuck lead played hard to get.. then came away.. leaving the connector rusted onto the plug :(

Next plug..only moved 1/8 turn.. so left it.. :(

Car starts as badly as ever.. so was probably relying on the lead I snapped :(

Looks like some mew wiring is required.. :)
couldnt find mew connectors for sensible money .. so will try bullet females

At least they are 10p.. not £10 each.. :)

Most connectors are made by more than one company, so no car manufacture gets caught out or blackmailed, etc.
TE are one of the biggest in this field.
Have a lengthy browse through this:
https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/connectors.html
When you find the ones you need, Google will hopefully find them for you.
 
The horn on the Panda has a sealed connector. I got a pair off Ebay, one half to seal the original horn, the other to take the two wires to a relay. From the relay, battery voltage now goes to a pair of Fiamm horns. Lots of noise.
Allows a simple unplug/plug to reconnect the original.

When the weather lets up a bit, I'll have a look at doing the same to the Fabia. Currently the original horn is pitiful.
 
Found a few mins this evrning to attempt more glowplug work.

DIAGNOSTIC:
Remove the plug leads. Put multimeter in circuit. Turn IGN.
Look for 12 volts.

Got 12v on battery terminals. Then..keeping earth cable on Neg. Terminal.. worked along the cables to plugs

0 , 0 ,# , 0

Wonderful.. ZERO VOLTS on the 3 accessible plugs..

Not sure WHY..??

Made a few inprovements to what I have.. but still not starting any better.



Will spend an hour of daylight tomorrow.
 
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Removed the broken connector. Crimped on the shielded bullet.

Snug fit on head of plug.

The factory shrouds clip together.. and have a slidethru sleeve up to the glowplug body.
 

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Removed the broken connector. Crimped on the shielded bullet.

Snug fit on head of plug.

(The factory shrouds clip together.. and have a slidethru sleeve up to the glowplug body.)

Not currently weatherproof..

But should be enough to restore function.

On the previous run.. the plug cycle timer was @15 seconds when cold.. dropping to 3 seconds on a WARM start.

Back to 15 now cold.. so anticipate that the basics are correct.

My lack of 12v..may just be a set.up error.

Daylight beckons.. ;)
 
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Right..

A bit of wire chasing located the glow plug telay.. lousy location for climatic exposure issues. Under coolant header front of battery tray.

Unplugged..checked .. and remade the connections.. still no plug heat.

Might jerry rig battery power as an experiment.... before tracing back further.

All 4 cables from relay acroos engine block to glow plugs appear ok.

As does the RED cable..( battery power in..? )
Meter said no circuit from the RED tab to battery neg.. with ign on..or off. :(

Could be a basic fuse issue... but coil glow plug light responds normally.. 15secs COLD.. after 1 minute of engine running.. timer down to 5 seconds
 
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Relay location..and wiring.


A Ducato owner had mentioned the contactor points in the relay may need s filing..'like contact breaker points'

Couldnt easily prise it open to look.
 

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Not having the deformable washer of spark plugs.. these plugs were tricky to seat

Car running well 18 months later.. but plugs were 'blowing by' a little

Got motor HOT.. the plugs wound out 1/4 of a turn.. would go back in 1/2 turn.. but that was TIGHT :eek:


PIC of the household fuse 'fix'

No issues :)
 

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